{"id":1000634,"date":"2007-05-13T20:52:53","date_gmt":"2007-05-14T01:52:53","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.elharo.com\/blog\/birding\/2007\/05\/13\/377-pygmy-nuthatch-in-golden-gate-park\/"},"modified":"2008-09-03T09:56:31","modified_gmt":"2008-09-03T14:56:31","slug":"377-pygmy-nuthatch-in-golden-gate-park","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.elharo.com\/blog\/birding\/2007\/05\/13\/377-pygmy-nuthatch-in-golden-gate-park\/","title":{"rendered":"#377 Pygmy Nuthatch in Golden Gate Park"},"content":{"rendered":"

After striking out at Mount Davidson, I arrived at Golden Gate Park at about 10:30 A.M. on Sunday. The 43 bus left me off roughly at Ninth Ave. so that’s where I entered (near the Lawn Bowling Club). A Great Blue Heron flew over almost immediately. Song Sparrows were calling from multiple locations. Tree Swallows were hawking for insects. Black Phoebes were flycatching over a ballfield. I zigzagged back and forth across the park to the west end for the next five hours or so, getting frequently lost and accidentally backtracking a lot. Thank god for GPS. <\/p>\n

Overall, though, it It was a slow start in Golden Gate too. I saw a Western Scrub-jay in the Aids Memorial Grove, a few hummingbirds in the Botanical gardens and the Tea Garden, but nothing hugely exciting. Then, about 2:00 P.M., I’m sitting on a bench on the north end of a small pond.1<\/a><\/sup> when a Pygmy Nuthatch flies into the conifer immediately to my left! It forages for a minute or two; then flies off. It’s a small bird, but I managed one recognizable photo before it took off.<\/p>\n

Pygmy Nuthatch hanging upside down from branch
\n<\/p>\n

Prior to the nuthatch, the day didn’t really start to pick up till I got to Stow Lake which had American Coot, Mallard, Muscovy Duck, Pied-billed Grebe, and Canada Goose. Canada Geese aren’t nearly as common in San Francisco as they are in New York, but that probably won’t last for very much longer. These geese had two full broods of chicks.<\/p>\n

Canada Geese, 2 adults, 5 goslings<\/p>\n

I climbed to the top of Strawberry Hill, and circled the lake a couple of times. <\/p>\n

A little later, after the nuthatch, near the Bison paddock, a Red-tailed Hawk was circling with a small mammal it had caught:<\/p>\n

Red-tailed Hawk in flight carrying small mammal<\/p>\n

When I reached the Bison Paddock, I discovered that cowbirds like Bison too:<\/p>\n

Brown-headed Cowbird perched on American Bison<\/p>\n

I’d suspected as much, but I hadn’t actually seen any cowbirds there on my previous visits. Maybe they’re afternoon birds. :-)<\/p>\n

I finished up with a quick swing around the North and South lakes. The North Lake produced a single Cedar Waxwing, Red-winged Blackbird, American Goldfinch, and Pied-billed Grebe. The South Lake had mallards and one of the strangest ducks I’ve ever seen:<\/p>\n

Duck with white tuft<\/p>\n

It was following two mallards half its size that seemed to me to be trying to stay as far away from this creature as they could. Probably some weird domestic hybrid.<\/p>\n

I walked home through the woods along the south edge of the park. No new birds, but I did see one fresh Red Admiral butterfly:<\/p>\n

Red Admiral butterfly<\/p>\n

Total avian species count for the day was 32 (33 if you count the Muscovy):<\/p>\n